


of late night visits and fruit tarts

by yaskiers



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: #solidarity, F/M, Fluff, Gwen and Merlin are best friends, Multi, Short & Sweet, So do I, arthur loves gwen and merlin so much, could be romantic or platonic, established arthur/gwen, hints of gwen/merlin/arthur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:20:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24657469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yaskiers/pseuds/yaskiers
Summary: Arthur considered himself not to be an unreasonable man. And so, he wondered, was it unreasonable of him to expect a night’s rest in his chambers, with his wife, to go uninterrupted by his manservant?(or; Merlin visits his best friend in the middle of the night. Oh, and her husband.)
Relationships: Gwen & Merlin (Merlin), Gwen/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gwen/Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 195





	of late night visits and fruit tarts

Arthur considered himself not to be an unreasonable man. Yes, he could make rash decisions sometimes (or, as Merlin would say, he _recklessly threw himself into danger for no reason other than to prove himself an honorable knight or some other stupidly noble thing_ ) and yes, he did tend to allow his anger to skew his judgement occasionally. He was capable of acknowledging his faults, if only to himself in the privacy of his mind. 

He still liked to believe that he was reasonable, and fair. A just king to his people. 

And so, he wondered, was it unreasonable of him to expect a night’s rest in his chambers, with his wife, to go uninterrupted by his manservant? Was it truly against all that was fair and just and noble to ask for Merlin to abstain from entering the royal bed chambers in the middle of the night?

It seemed that it was, Arthur thought tiredly as he watched Merlin slowly shuffle towards the bed out of the corner of his eye. He was fairly certain that Merlin wasn’t aware that he was awake, given that years of campaign had perfected his ability to wake quietly and silently, when he had to. If he decided to use this to his advantage, well, it was only just recompense for waking up to a man in his chambers.

“Merlin,” he said, keeping his eyes fixed on the canopy of his bed. He could tell without looking that Merlin froze guiltily. “What on earth do you think you’re doing?” There had better be a good explanation. Guinevere shifted slightly from where she lay next to him, and Arthur swore silently to himself that if she woke Merlin would be in the stocks for a month. Maybe two. 

“Oh, hello sire, I didn’t see you there, um- _Ijustneededtotalktoyourwife_?” Merlin whispered, though the last part came out as more of a squeak. 

“Would you care to repeat that last bit, Merlin?” Because it had sounded a bit like Merlin had said that he needed to talk to Arthur’s wife. 

“He _said_ ,” Guinevere’s sleep roughened voice interrupted whatever response Merlin had been about to give. “that he needed to talk to me. Isn’t that right, Merlin?” 

“Yup!” Arthur’s soon-to-be-ex-manservant responded brightly. “Oh- I also brought you these, sorry sire I wasn’t really expecting you to be up-” Arthur’s indignant exclamation of _“you woke me up by breaking into my chambers in the middle of the night you idiot”_ was calmly ignored by both his wife and his manservant. 

“So there’s only two, not that Cook would have let me take more, of course, but she always did have a soft spot for you, which- how on earth did she get a soft spot for _you,_ honestly- so who really knows?” In reality, the story of how Mary the Cook had developed a "soft spot" for Arthur included honey, his father's Council, Morgana, and being locked in his room for a week. Not that his manservant knew that, of course.

Merlin then proceeded to produce two slightly lopsided fruit tarts from his jacket (Arthur really should see to getting him a new one, it was truly embarrassing for his manservant to be seen wearing something so horrid) and handed one to Guinevere, who sat up excitedly and propped up her pillow behind her, pooling the blankets in her lap. 

“Here,” She said, breaking off a piece of the tart and waving it in front of his face. Arthur sighed, and sat up, because even he wouldn’t dare refuse one of Mary’s fruit tarts, especially in the cold seasons when they were so rare. 

“So Merlin,” Arthur said delicately, in a manner befitting a prince, even if said prince had a mouth full of tart. “I would love an explanation for why you decided to break into our chambers in the middle of the night to speak to my wife.” The threat was slightly less intimidating than usual, given that he was sitting in his nightclothes on his bed eating a pastry like a disobedient child, but Arthur had faith that it was sufficiently imposing for the moment. 

“Before he says anything, he’ll sit down. Won’t you, Merlin?” Guinevere said, much to Arthur’s dismay. Because really, there was breaking royal protocol and then there was _breaking royal protocol_. His wife simply slid nearer to him, kissing his cheek in apology, though he could see the laughter in her eyes. Very well, he supposed that he had never really been one for royal protocol. Besides, it was Merlin. The rules never seemed to apply to him. 

Merlin, obviously delighted, judging by the visible grin on his face, even in the darkness, slid into the bed next to Guinevere and curled up naturally by her side, his head resting on her stomach in an obviously familiar way. A part of Arthur thought that he should be jealous, or at least bothered, and yet to him it seemed the most natural thing in the world.

It seemed _right_ , somehow.

“Oh yes, Gwen you’ll never believe this, but you know Priscilla from laundry? Well, Lillian finally made her move-”

Guinevere gasped, accidentally spilling crumbs of tart all over the sheets, with a few falling into Merlin’s hair. She still managed to look regal, because she always did. Merlin, on the other hand, looked ridiculous. 

“No way,” She said excitedly, reminding Arthur so strongly of the carefree maid she had been that his heart ached. She was a wonderful queen, of course. Strong, kind, beautiful, smart. Camelot’s Queen of the People, as some called her. He couldn’t imagine ruling without her sure, comforting presence at his side, her wisdom constantly both inspiring him and supporting him.

Arthur loved her, he truly did, and still a part of him could not help but wish for the days when she hadn’t been forced to deal with the sneers of his father’s old nobles, or the whispers which exploded the moment she stepped outside of a room. He could see the way that it weighed on her, some days, and he wished for nothing more than to take her away, away to a small village like Merlin’s, where they could be happy in their simple life. He would bring Merlin, of course. It would be wrong not to. A fantasy, of course, but an enticing one.

“Yes way!” Merlin responded, his own enthusiasm for their gossip making his face light up. “There were flowers and everything, it was so romantic Gwen you should’ve seen it, ‘Cilla will be insufferable for _days_.” 

Merlin too, had changed, Arthur thought with no small amount of sadness. There was a burden on him, something which haunted his gaze sometimes. He wasn’t sleeping well, Arthur knew, and sometimes he was forced to order Merlin to sit down for ten minutes and eat a proper meal. 

He would be more attentive, to both of them, he promised himself. They were the people he held most dear, these two servants who had somehow managed to worm their way inside his heart. 

But for now, as he listened to Merlin ramble to Guinevere about the other servants, the new neckerchief he had found at the market which reminded him of his mother, anything and everything. As he listened to Guinevere’s carefree laugh, her eyes sparkling and her smile wide and beautiful. With fruit tart crumbs adorning the royal bed covers, he felt that everything would work out, in the end. 

Their future may be uncertain, with threats emerging from seemingly everywhere. But Arthur had faith, if not in himself, than in his kingdom, in his people, in his knights, and most of all; in the two most powerful people of Camelot. Guinevere and Merlin, his wife and servant, who he would entrust Camelot to without hesitation.

Yes, they would be all right. He would make sure of it. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> the plot for this was inspired by a conversation I had on twitter a while back, which lived in my mind rent free :) and here we are, my first merlin work ever (and in the year 2020 lmaooo im a bit late)
> 
> also, this was written as a mergwenthur fic, but if you'd rather read it as platonic, feel free to do so! 
> 
> this is basically set anytime after gwen and arthur got married, so late s4-s5?
> 
> anyways, thank you so much for reading!! let me know what you think in the comments 
> 
> as always, feel free to say hi on tumblr or twitter @trissifer <3


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